The inventors have recognized that there exists a Small Office/Home Office ("SOHO") business segment market which is driven largely by "immediate gratification" and cost sensitivity. That is, the entrepreneurs who comprise this market are more inclined to utilize a product or service if it can be accessed quickly with a minimum of red tape. There is a strong inclination for people in this market to place a very high premium on their own time and that of their employees, such that products that improve their efficiency are of great value.
The inventors also have recognized that, in the SOHO market and elsewhere, postage application and Visits to the post office to purchase postage and/or ship envelopes and packages are seen as burdensome, time consuming and inefficient, and thus represent productivity opportunities--that is, opportunities to improve productivity by increasing efficiency. Similarly, use of other common carrier package delivery services, such as UPS, Federal Express, Purolator, etc., present similar productivity opportunities to expedite delivery of such services. For example, Federal Express has developed "power shipping", a service which uses a more efficient airbill printing system, but which requires installation of a Federal Express terminal and printer at the customer's site. However, this level of efficiency is reserved for substantial customers and is not available to the SOHO market; it also requires special hardware devices to implement and is limited to Federal Express packaging only.
A product or service that can be remotely accessed in real time would be highly valued by SOHO (and non-SOHO) businesses whose livelihoods depend on access to electronic marketing methods worldwide.
The Metering Technology Management Office of the United States Postal Service ("USPS") has announced plans and issued regulations for a personal computer ("PC") based system for selling postage to individual customers under the Information Based Indicia Program ("IBIP"). See, for example, IBIP Host System Specification (Oct. 9, 1996), IBIP Postal Security Device Specification (Jun. 13, 1996), IBIP Indicium Specification (Jun. 13, 1996), IBIP Key Management Plan (Apr. 25, 1997), USPS Domestic Mail Manual, Issue 50 (Jul. 1, 1996), Federal Register, Part V, 39 CFR Parts 111 and 501 (Jun. 9, 1995), FIPS PUB 140-1 (January 1994), FIPS PUB 180-1 (Apr. 17, 1995), FIPS PUB 186 (May 19, 1994). The IBIP program products and services represent a significant paradigm shift from the traditional postage meter technology and processes in which the customer has custody of a device, the postage meter, and must take it or some part of it to the postal service office to purchase and refill the meter with more postage.
Protecting the security of the mails, United States postage funds, and the funds of the individual user and electronic commerce are of great importance. Improved apparatus and methods for providing such postal service transactions are desirable.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide customer (client) to remote service provider (server) electronic transactions which are secure and reliable.
It is another object to present a significant paradigm shift, building and improving upon current IBIP modeling, and to provide a software-only product utilizing the Internet, conventional and security (encryption) technology and a unique form of evidence of payment for executing secure electronic transactions.
It is another object of the invention to provide products for using electronic commerce payment technologies as well as new approaches to old challenges (e.g., increased efficiency in scheduling and delivery of packages and mail in electronic commerce that is secure and traceable).